Want to show appreciation for the women at your workplace? Try empathy, not flowers

I MIGHT be too late to the International Women’s Day game, but in my defence, according to internationalwomensday.com, the first International Women’s Day was observed by a few countries on March 19, 1911.

How we arrived at March 8, though, is because Russian women marked their first International Women’s Day on February 23, 1917, according to the Julian calendar, with a strike – this was the equivalent of March 8 on the Gregorian calendar.

While this day started out standing for the global fight against oppression and deprivation of basic rights, today it has become a day of appreciation for women – where at the workplace, for instance, the women might receive flowers and tribute posts on LinkedIn; perhaps a handwritten note on their desks in gratitude for the little things they do.